Last week's announcement that Parliament
will rise for its Easter recess on March 30 and return on April
6 was the clearest indication yet that the election will be on
May 6.
This timetable is based on the assumption that the general
election takes place on 6 May and produces a majority
government.
Some of the dates are speculative, such as the publication of
party manifestos, but the suggestions we give below are in line
with what happened at the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections.
It remains possible that the election will be called for a
different date, with June 3 being the last practical option.
However, the local elections take place on May 6 and it has been
alluded to by ministers as the polling date, making it the most
credible option.
View the timetable in a calender
here.
March
Wednesday March 24: Budget
Monday March 29: Treasury Debate
Tuesday March 30: Easter recess
April
Tuesday April 6: Parliament returns
Wednesday April 7: Wash-up and PMQs
Thursday April 8: End of wash-up, Prorogation
Monday April 12: Dissolution and Conservative manifesto launch
Tuesday April 13: Labour manifesto launch
Wednesday April 14: Liberal Democrat manifesto launch
Thursday April 15: ITV Election Debate
Tuesday 20 April: Candidate list finalised
Thursday April 22: Sky News debate
Thursday April 29: BBC Debate
May
Thursday May 6: Election Day
Wednesday May 12: Election of Speaker/MPs begin swearing-in
process
Wednesday May 19: Queen’s Speech
Thursday May 27: Whitsun adjournment begins
June and July
June: Election of Select Committee Chairs
June: Conservative emergency Budget (if they form the next
government)
July: Select committee membership announced
Wednesday March 24: Budget
The last big Parliamentary set-piece before the election.
Alistair Darling will concentrate on reducing public spending to
trim the UK’s deficit and it is unlikely that he will make any
pre-election giveaways to voters.
The following documents will be published alongside the Budget:
• Energy market assessment and road map to 2050
• Conclusion of the Total Place pilot projects
• Progress report on encouraging sustainability in
mortgage-backed securities markets
• UK infrastructure strategy
• Report on action to stimulate local authority and private
house building
• Ian Smith’s report on Civil Service relocation and Bill
Cockburn’s report into senior civil service salaries
• Detailed plans setting out how the NHS is to deliver cost
savings of £15-20 billion
• Report of the public value programme for the police service
• Report on options to monetise the student loans portfolio and
to commercialise the Government’s asset portfolio as a whole
Monday March 29: Treasury Debate
Alistair Darling, George Osborne and Vince Cable will take part
in a live debate on Channel 4. The hour long programme will see
the Chancellor and his shadows face questions from a studio
audience and will be moderated by Channel 4 news presenter
Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Tuesday March 30: Easter recess
Parliament rises for short six-day Easter recess.
Tuesday April 6: Parliament returns
Parliament returns from recess. Gordon Brown expected to travel
to the Palace to request the dissolution of Parliament for a
General Election on May 6.
Wednesday April 7: Wash-up and PMQs
Parliamentary business is wrapped up for the session with
alterations to Bills usually taking place by informal
discussions between party whips without any public scrutiny. The
final Prime Minister’s questions of the Parliament will take
place at 12pm.
Below are the Government Bills that are still being debated in
either the Commons or the Lords. The first set of Bills have had
their final stages timetabled before the likely end of the
session. Although the Commons and Lords might still need to
agree on amendments, there will be enough time for this to
happen in the normal manner.
Bills likely to pass before wash-up
• Child Poverty Bill
• Equality Bill
• Personal Care at Home Bill
• Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Bill
• Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Bill
• Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Bill
The Bills below have not made enough progress to be passed
normally and will go through the wash-up process:
• Bribery Bill
• Children, Schools and Families Bill
• Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill
• Crime and Security Bill
• Digital Economy Bill
• Energy Bill
• Financial Services Bill
• Finance Bill
• Flood and Water Management Bill
• Northern Ireland Assembly Members Bill
Thursday April 8: End of wash-up, Prorogation
Wash-up continues until all business has been dealt with. Bills
which have completed passage will receive Royal Assent.
Monday April 12: Dissolution and Conservative manifesto
launch
Parliament dissolves and the election campaign begins proper.
Period of 'purdah' meaning the government continues to function
but cannot make major policy announcements.
Based on previous elections it is likely that the Conservatives
will launch their manifesto today, although it is possible that
they may choose to do this earlier. The Conservatives
traditionally publish their manifesto first, closely followed by
the other two major parties.
Tuesday April 13: Labour manifesto launch
Assuming the Conservatives launch their manifesto on Monday,
Labour’s will probably follow today. This gives the Liberal
Democrats a chance to launch theirs before media focus turns to
the first of the televised leader debates.
Wednesday April 14: Liberal Democrat manifesto launch
The Liberal Democrats are generally the last of the three major
parties to publish their manifesto. We believe that it is more
likely to be done today than April 15 as this would risk it
losing out on coverage to the televised debate.
Thursday April 15: ITV Election Debate
News at Ten presenter Alistair Stewart chairs the first ever
live TV debate between British political party leaders.
The first half the debate, held in Manchester, will focus on
domestic affairs including but not limited to: the NHS,
education, immigration, law and order, family, constitution,
trust in politics and political reform.
Tuesday 20 April: Candidate list finalised
Today is the last day for new candidates to be nominated or for
existing candidates to withdraw from the election.
Thursday April 22: Sky News debate
Sky News political editor Adam Boulton chairs second election
debate from Bristol.
The first half of the debate will focus on international affairs
including but not limited to: international relations,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Middle East, UK defence, international
terrorism, Europe, climate change, China and international
development.
Thursday April 29: BBC Debate
Question time moderator David Dimbleby chairs the third and
final election debate from Birmingham.
The first half of the debate will focus on economic affairs
including but not limited to: the financing of public services,
taxation, debt, deficit, public finances, recession, recovery,
banking and finance, business, pensions and jobs.
Thursday May 6: Election Day
Polls open across the country at 7am and close at 10pm for the
2010 General Election.
As of 19 March, 83 returning officers have indicated they will
not begin counting the votes until Friday 7 May. Of these, the
following constituencies are seats the Conservatives need to win
to achieve a majority.
• Barrow and Furness
• Birmingham Edgbaston
• Cheltenham
• Cleethorpes
• Copeland
• Great Yarmouth
• Morecambe and Lunesdale
• Northampton North
• Northampton South
• Reading West
• Waveney
• Westmorland and Lonsdale
If the Conservatives win on a majority of fewer than twelve MPs,
this result will not be known until later on the Friday.
A clause was added to the Constitutional Reform and Governance
Bill in an attempt to force returning officers to begin counting
within four hours of polls closing. However, the Bill has yet to
pass (see above) and the Electoral Commission has expressed
concerns that it might constitute unacceptable interference in
the independence of the process.
Draft advice from the Electoral Commission suggests that
returning officers should seek to comply with the new law, but
may legitimately be able to avoid doing so if they can show that
their preparations are sufficiently far advanced that they are
unable to change their plans.
Wednesday May 13: Election of Speaker/MPs begin swearing-in
process
Parliament will reconvene following the general election with
MPs taking their oath of office. Following this the Commons’
first order of business will be to elect a Speaker. If John
Bercow keeps his seat he is the natural choice, but might face a
challenge from Conservative backbenchers seeking to replace him
with a candidate more to their liking.
According to a report in the Evening Standard, senior
backbenchers have urged David Cameron not to require frontbench
Tories to support Mr Bercow. In the event of a narrow election
victory backbench Conservatives would not have sufficient
numbers to vote Mr Bercow out without the support of either
their own front bench or MPs from other parties. The attitude of
Mr Cameron is critical and should the Conservatives win, today
could mark the leadership’s first political test.
Wednesday May 19: Queen’s Speech
Assuming that the election produces a majority for either the
Conservatives or Labour the first Queen’s Speech of the
Parliament will be held today. The speech will set out the
legislative programme for the first session of Parliament.
The early date of the speech means that the 2010/11 session will
be longer than the normal parliamentary year. The new session
will end in November/December 2011.
The remaining period from May 20 to the rising of Parliament for
the Whitsun adjournment will be taken up by debating the Queen’s
speech.
Thursday May 27: Whitsun adjournment begins
Parliament rises for the week-long Whitsun adjournment returning
on Monday June 7.
View the timetable in a calender
here.
